As my niece reminded me the other day, I’m at my third generation of Star Wars fandom.

This didn’t make me feel old whatsoever. No, not at all... kids these days.

It’s true though, this is the beginning of the third wave of Star Wars films for me and my ilk.

It started of course with the ‘Middle Trilogy’, a near-perfect series of films taking us to a galaxy far, far away and the adventures within.

Since then Star Wars has become the most instantly recognisable franchise of films, the game changer for blockbusters and a firmament of popular culture.

It became bigger than the big screen, it is a yardstick upon which all other science fiction films have been measured since.

George Lucas and the 1997 cast

It took merchandising and promotion to another level and made its creator George Lucas an extremely wealthy man.

Then he had to go and ruin it. After rounding it all off quite nicely in Return Of The Jedi (nicely, if a little too nicely... that song at the end, Jeez Louise), he couldn’t leave it alone.

He started adding things to the originals, to the extent that he seemed to be the only Star Wars fan in the world who hadn’t a clue why people are Star Wars fans.

Adding deleted scenes, proving my theory that sometimes deleted scenes are such for good reason.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he then decided to inflict "The Prequels" upon us. The origins of all things.

Where Vader came from and how we got to the point of Episode Four. And how I wish he hadn’t bothered.

The Phantom Menace with its admittedly impressive set pieces, tied together with a narrative so flimsy it wouldn’t survive a gust of wind, never mind the jump to light speed, with acting performances that seemed to be some kind of in-joke on Lucas’ part. Effectively a very long toy advert.

Lucas did introduce new characters into the mix, however. Darth Maul, a fantastic villain worthy of the Sith title. Lucas killed him off at the end.

And... and I almost hate typing his name... or even thinking about it... like a pointless, ineffectual Voldemort... Jar Jar Binks... and he kept him through the other two movies!

He erred on the side of Scrappy Doo over Vader Mark 2. Madness.

What followed were two films of increasingly woeful acting, lengthy protracted dialogue about trade agreements, cringeworthy love scenes and the clunkiest denouement since Alien: Resurrection.

The Phantom Menance: Starring Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson

No-one emerged from that movie unscathed. Neeson must have been relieved he got killed off before that. I know I was.

And now here we are: Disney have taken the reigns of the franchise and taken directorial duties from Lucas, like you’d take the TV remote control off Grandad at Xmas.

Up steps JJ Abrams, with two Star Trek and one Mission Impossible film under his belt as director, as well as a slew of production credits and a self-confessed Star Wars fan.

This gave me hope. A New Hope, if you will. What can possibly go wrong?

Initially it was perfectly marketed, as you’d expect. Teaser trailers that reduced sad, middle-aged men like me to tears. Then another one. And another one.

More and more being revealed to the point where I have deliberately not read anything about The Force Awakens. I want to view it almost as I did with Episode IV. With fresh eyes. Such is the fervour and passion for this film, that it is going to be rather difficult reviewing it without giving away any ‘spoilers’.

But here goes:

The trailers are the cleverest thing about this. They suggest so much, but upon seeing The Force Awakens, you realise they were giving little away.

How do I review this without giving away any spoilers? See, this is important.

There is legacy here. Passionate legacy. And therein is a flaw. A major one.

Abrams always had a rod made for his own back with this. How do you take up a mantle of such great cinematic importance? A series that has meant so much to so many?

Here we are introduced to new characters but they feel so painfully like the old ones. A new gutsy heroine (who is not fleshed out enough), a new wise-cracking maverick (who gets too much wise-cracking in there), a new comedy sidekick and all having to live up to what has gone before.

And that becomes very, obviously obvious from near the get-go.

The Force Awakens, quite frankly, is too ‘meta’. It relies too much on self-reference and a knowing wink.

For the fans I understand that that would seem important, but I wanted Abrams to own this film more. To make a new start and make it his own.

This was a clean slate. Lucas undid all his good deeds with the prequels, this was an open goal to change things.

And things DO change, but so much plays out as expected. Certain scenes are laboured under too much exposition, other scenes suffer from being too scant with detail when it is needed.

All the highlights are references to what has gone before. The familiar. And what is the point of that? We’ve been there, done it, bought the tee shirt, toy, lunchbox, lightsaber with realistic sound effects.

It feels awkward, unsure of itself, yet all too aware of itself.

It isn’t a bad film in itself, but it could have been a better film it if was more singular in its intention. Maybe this is just setting up its stall for the next two, but really, if that is the case, then it is a cheat at the expense of the audience.

Abrams appears to have misread the strengths of the original trilogy, its charm and its heart, and instead replaced it with those wisecracks and that annoying self reference.

I didn’t hate it, but I so wanted to love it. And I can’t believe I haven’t given anything away.

I’m not saying I’m right, here. I’m saying I’m just underwhelmed. And again, an awful, awkward ending that feels so desperate for self-importance, yet lacking to the point of comical.